So exactly what are Airfix Toy Soldiers? Airfax is a United Kingdom based company well known for producing high quality hobby model kits to scale, particularly of airplanes and other military vehicles. These model kits were at the height of their popularity in the 1960s and 1970s when every little boy wanted their very own Airfix model kit.
From the 1960s, the company also started producing scale figures featuring soldiers from World War I, World War II and other popular military groups. These figures were high quality and inexpensive and became another ‘must have’ toy for boys of the time. These figures are now highly collectible, particularly by adults who were children at the height of their popularity.
Airfix toy soldiers were produced in scales of 1:76, 1:72 and 1:32. The latter, larger type of toy soldiers were produced most recently and became the most popular type of figure produced by the Airfix company. The figures were produced with great attention to detail, molded from durable polythene cast in a mold, resulting in highly realistic representations of soldiers from a particular war or battle. Other companies quickly followed suit and produced their own versions but they could not match the quality or the popularity of the original Airfix figures.
Airfix model soldiers came in a range of kits. The first wave of these sets was produced in the 1960s and commonly known as the ‘brown box’. The packaging changed throughout the years but did not change from a box to bag until 1995. Sets in their original boxes are the most sought after and will reach the highest price for collectors. Although the packaging changed through the years, many of the figure sets remained the same as they were cast from the same moulds and even used the same shade of plastic. Figure sets produced in years that are more recent sometimes had additional plastic around the joins of the figure where the now older mould would not shut completely.
Sets were also available including vehicles and sometimes buildings, along with the figures. In the 1970s, two ‘combat packs’ were produced featuring battlegrounds set in Europe and the dessert. These packs came in large boxes and contained cardboard cutout scenery, a building, two vehicles and two sets of figures. These sets are now very rare and can fetch a high price at auction. The Desert Combat Pack of Airfix toy soldiers in particular are highly sought after.